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Diary entries by ben_norman in April 2008
By Ben_Norman
on Fri, 18th Apr 2008 at 00:38
The deep chill of Thursday evening was off-set by a heated debate between local politicians from across the party spectrum in a Question time style debate in Park building, chaired by Morys When discussing the role of local government in fighting climate change both incumerbant politicians focused discussion on initiatives taken on a local level, such as efforts to persuade Portsmouth drivers to take public transportation, at one point Counciller Vernon-Jackson alluded to plans for a tram system in Portsmouth. Steve Harris the UKIP spokesman took the contreoversial stance to deny the existance of climate change, denouncing enviromentalism as “a new religion.” Nick Chaffy, the Socialist Party spokesman questioned the privatisation polices of local services, which places climate change in the hands of the free market. John Molinuex denied that climate change could be solved in Portsmouth and called for the audience to examine the wider picture, in response Tim Dawes called for the audience and panel alike to “think globally, but act locally”, agreeing that the world scernario must be kept in mind but people can act on a personal and local level. Whilst as I member of the Socialist Party myself I may be accused of bias but I stand by my opinion that Nick Chaffy and Tim Dawes proved themselves to be the best of the speakers, through the strength and reason of their arguments as well as their oratory style, an opinion that was confirmed as the chair moved on to the second question, the impact of immigration on the economy. Steve Harris of UKIP lived up to his political sterotype by denouncing immigration as a drain on the national resources, claiming that the freedom of movement inside the European Union was the main cause of the problem. Harris stated that in tower hamlets election ballot papers were printed in sixty nine languages, citing this as an absurdity of multi-cultural Britain. In strong contrast John Molinuex, whose party calls for completely open borders with no restrictions on immigration, argued that the economic arguments for and against immigration were irrelevant compared to the cultural and human values. Surely, Molinuex argued, if a school child can speak or understand 21 languages “this is a magnificent thing.” Both Counciller Vernon-Jackson and Sarah Mcart... About 543 more words in this entry Permanent link
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By Ben_Norman
on Thu, 17th Apr 2008 at 15:12
To the apathetic student, Today I am writing to you, the apathetic faceless student. First a history lesson, in 1947, after looking over his life’s work and his artistic stand against the Holocaust, W.H Auden lamented that “not one poem saved one Jewish life”. In the same year George Orwell wrote that being a socialist is somewhat like being a doctor treating a terminally ill patient. As I doctor you have a duty of care and you will have sworn to fight for the life of your patient, as a scientist you know his cause is hopeless. These men dedicated their lives to raising awareness of horror, tyranny and oppression. They both fought in the Spanish civil war, they both wrote against the rise of Hitler and warned against future despotism, they also both died broken and disillusioned men. When considering student politics Orwell was almost right, the only difference is that the student body is not dying, merely drunk and the issues facing students today are not going to go away if you continue to ignore them. The question of apathy is never far away. It is the perennial excuse of the poor organiser. In my mind a student is only apathetic if they know an issue, understand an issue and still do not care. Indeed this is the paradox of student politics; on the one hand the age of information has ushered in an era where thousand of causes lie at our finger tips. With an appropriately placed double click you have access to a world of information. Never before has it been so easy to discover the plight of murdered Columbian trade unionists, to understand the oppression of the Burmese people or to comprehend war crimes in Lebanon, Palestine or Iraq. Yet as a mass you’d rather spend time drinking, playing guitar hero and living up to the crude stereotype of student hood then attend a protest, or campaign on a war in some far flung foreign field which is all too likely to become forever England. Perhaps it is understandable that you choose not to inconvenience yourselves for those you have never met in parts of the world you will never visit. However, worse still it would appear that your general state of indifference also applies to yourselves. Trying to raise awareness of crucial issues, such as climate change or student fees, to the sleeping student body often resembles attempting to climb Everest with a tooth pick, not entirely impossible but an endless struggle where endless determination, immoveable belief and delusional optimism are essential. It must be recognised that student politics is a reflection of wider society. What is felt on the corridors of campus soon reverberates down the corridors of power. If something is debated, and held to be true in our educational institutions then it is a microcosm of sentiment held in pubs, offices and homes across the country. The student body is a political litmus test for the rest of the population, save the students and you save the world. For generations students have been on the front lines of society shaping protests. Students led the way in standing against the war in Vietnam, in calling to ban the bomb, student demonstrations even brought even brought down the government of Charles De Gaulle in 1960’s France. Sadly it appears clear that Portsmouth 2008 is not 1960’s France.
Student politics has alwa...
By Ben_Norman
on Tue, 8th Apr 2008 at 17:10
**Notice Of Elections **
In a change to the schedule I will be holding the next Society Executive elections BEFORE next year. So, the election will not be held at Presidents Day at the start of next year, but at a date to be decided in May. (Most likely 16th May). This is an oppotunity for all outgoing and incoming society commitees to be involved in the election and to stand. It will ensure new students know who are exec are before the year starts and it ensures some stabillity for the year ahead when I will not be here. So.. currently there are 6 positions... Chair Person Hobbies Rep Activites Rep Political Rep Cultural Rep Religious Rep The Exec are the main contact point between the Union and socieites, importantly they HOLD THE SABB OFFICER TO ACCOUNT making sure they do their job .. important for the year ahead. They organise inter-society events such as the carnival, they make sure that societes are represented in the highest levels of the Unions' democracy and have regular contributions to Union and Wider Media. So its a key job, and we need 6 good people to do it. To lead, to support, to represent socieites and to ensure that they grow and maintain their integral position within UPSU. P lease E-mail me, if you are interested or one of your society members is interested and I'll will send out some more info. Many thanks, Ben Norman about me"Like Gollum but with a bouncy walk"
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